SMS – Smart Made Simple ends financial year on positive note

Despite many challenging factors that the electronics manufacturing industry is facing in the U.K. at present, SMS has increased its turnover by 30 percent in the last 12 months. Challenges such as Brexit, fluctuating exchange rates and extended lead-time pressures are present within the electronic manufacturing industry in the U.K. today. These economic, political and technological trials were predicted to shake the U.K. manufacturing industry, but in spite of these factors, SMS has witnessed growth. Craig Taylor, Chief Financial Officer, SMS, states: "We have outperformed 2016. As we look at 2017, turnover is up 30 percent, orders are up 20 percent and our development centre alone has increased by over 20 percent. In June 2017, we invested heavily in new technology to support our customer's developmental needs. We purchased a new Mycronic MY600 Jet Printer and the Mycronic MY200SX Placement for state-of-the-art development. Through these investments, we have been able to address and close the gap between technology advancements and our capability." The most exciting consequence of this investment, however, is one that the management within SMS did not predict. The equipment was aimed to support current customers. What the company didn’t forecast the volume of new opportunities that this investment would open SMS up to. "The request for rapid New Product Introduction (NPI) with varying capacity requirements has enlarged our order book considerably. We are delighted to be seen as the electronics manufacturing service provider (EMS) who can service this niche market in the U.K. The fluctuation spikes and variances in the design layout mean that only an experienced EMS provider, who is flexible enough to be able to adapt their operating system, can cope with the small batch size orders, which are highly complex in nature", Craig Taylor continues. "This is not a build-to-print business, it is a specialist service that we offer. It requires high-end, cutting-edge technology and an investment into training and developing people. Our technology and our team need to be able to demand-plan and fulfil orders as per our customer's schedule, which is often driven by their customers’ orders. This is why we help our original equipment maker (OEM) customers to design for manufacture (DFM), design for test (DFT), design for cost (DFC) and design for commercialisation, to speed up the process for them, as innovation has increased the request for speed." As the company looks towards the next financial year, target growth rates and other indicators signpost to growth that’s above the national average. Anticipated growth is predicted to be driven by a combination of increased demand from customers, diversification and entry into new markets, both domestically and overseas.